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Remember the John Birch Society? The ultraconservative group was formed in 1958 by candy executive Robert Welch. The Birchers supported some good ideas, such as private-property rights and aggressive anti-communism. But unlike, say, William F. Buckley and the National Review crowd, who similarly supported property rights and aggressive anti-communism, the Birchers were consumed with paranoid conspiracy theories. In their "smelly little orthodoxies" (to steal a phrase from George Orwell), American heroes such as Dwight Eisenhower and George Marshall were portrayed as communist dupes.

The Birchers were a scary bunch. To my mind they helped make Barry Goldwater unelectable in 1964. Ronald Reagan conservatives look back fondly at the 1964 election and see in Goldwater the beginnings of the modern conservative movement. But that's only partially true. It would take another 16 years for the sunny conservative ideas of Reagan to scrub out the bomb shelter paranoia of the Birchers.

Who are the Birchers of 2008? They are the left-wing bloggers of the Daily Kos. There are many partisan left-wing blogs out there, including the thoughtful and sometimes funny Huffington Post. But none boil with hate and the "smelly little orthodoxies" quite like the Daily Kos.

Saturday, as anyone who follows politics knows, the Daily Kos exceeded its rancid self. A poster named "ArcXIX"--these smelly little cowards are always anonymous, aren't they?--accused Sarah Palin of faking her last pregnancy. The real mother of Trig Palin, said ArcXIX, was Palin's 17-year-old daughter, Bristol.

This rumor swept through the Web world for 24 hours. Then it was shown that ArcXIX had falsely labeled some photos.

The Daily Kos has handed a huge win to John McCain and Sarah Palin. I'm not a Democrat, but if I were, I would be very, very angry now. By going after Palin in such a raw and ridiculous way, the Daily Kos has inoculated Palin against more serious questions. Conservative talk radio will feast on this attack for days. Republicans will rediscover their righteous anger. Example: my wife. Two days ago she was a tepid John McCain supporter. Now she's revved up for McCain/Palin.

Make no mistake, the Kos slander will wake up Republicans like nothing else. This is a huge blow to the Obama camp. It will be a fatal blow if any Obama opposition-research fingerprints turn up in this smelly little slander.